Norman Baker MP Member of Parliament for Lewes constituency
|Home
Contact Norman at:
Norman Baker,
23 East Street,
Lewes,
East Sussex,
BN7 2LJ.
Tel: (01273) 480281.
Fax: (01273) 480287.
Email: info
This website has been partly paid for from the funds made available to every MP to assist them in communicating with and representing their constituents.
Printed and hosted by Pipex Communications UK Ltd, Humber Buildings, Humber Rd, Beeston, Notts, NG9 2ET. Published and promoted by Norman Baker MP, House of Commons, Westminster, London SW1A 1AA. The views expressed are those of Norman Baker, not of the service provider.
2003 (and previous) press releases
2,000+ Pharmacy Petition Reaches the DTI. Local MP Norman Baker delivers petition protesting against threat to local chemists
Local MP Norman Baker has today delivered a petition to the Department of Trade and Industry, signed by well over 2,000 of his constituents calling on the government to protect local pharmacies in East Sussex.
The "Save Our Pharmacy Services Petition" was launched to safeguard local chemists in the face of Office of Fair Trading plans to allow supermarkets to open their own pharmacies. Mr Baker is concerned that this could force local chemists out of business and warns that supermarket pharmacies would be a poor replacement.
The petition puts further pressure on the DTI Secretary Patricia Hewitt to abandon the Office of Fair Trading's recommendations. The government is expected to make a final decision on whether to deregulate the pharmacy sector this summer.
Speaking about the petition, Norman Baker says:
"The campaign to protect our chemists in East Sussex won the support of over 2,000 local residents - a very significant response. This shows that local people recognise that pharmacies play a vital and much-valued part in providing community healthcare, dispensing not just medicine but also medical advice.
"The elderly and infirm will be short-changed if supermarket pharmacies replace local chemists because they are often difficult to get to without access to a car. The government must dump their deregulation plans and act now to protect the important job done by local chemists."